Episode 335: Your Questions, Our Answers
Date November 22, 2013 Summary Ben and Sam answer listener emails about switching positions between batters, specialist scouts, risk-averse skippers, a team of top prospects, and more. Topics * Specialized scouts * Switching outfielders between batters * Unconventional managerial moves * All top prospect team * Secret salary terms Intro Joe Budden (Ft. Omarion), "Switching Positions" Banter Episode 328 follow-up: Teams contracting with McKinsey Email Questions * Gabe: "I've started the book Dollar Sign on the Muscle. In the first chapter they mention that the Orioles had a specialist scout who focused exclusively on pitching. Does that happen today? If I were a scout, and I would want to be one someday, I would think I could offer more on scouting an infield prospect because that's what I was as a player. Would teams get better insight on a player if they had specialized scouts or would that mean an increase in scouts needed and organizations could not afford the extra payroll?" * Matt: "Why doesn't the better defensive corner outfielder on a given team change the position he plays based on the handedness and tendencies of the batter at the plate? In 2013 batters pulled 10,240 fly balls, of which 3,112 left the park. They hit 17,849 fly balls to the opposite field, of which 518 left the park. Batters were less than half as likely to hit flies to their pull field and have them stay in the park as to hit them the other way and have them stay in the park. I'll acknowledge that it's likely that the pulled flies, even the ones staying in the park, are likely to be hit harder on average. But the league's line drive rate to the opposite field was higher than the rate to the pull field. So on balance it seems like you'd want the better rangier anyway of your defensive corner guys playing the batter's opposite field as often as possible. There are exceptions to this rule, Jose Bautista for instance is a different kind of hitter but most guys are actually fairly typical in this regard. I know that corner outfielders are selected for offense not defense. I know that learning to play both angles and make constant transitions would be somewhat difficult. On balance though I think teams are giving away outs by failing to make sure that their best defenders get the most opportunities to field the ball." * Michael: "Yesterday Hang Up and Listen had an interview with a high school football coach who almost never punts or attempts field goals and almost always attempts an on side kick after scoring, however the conventional wisdom in football is to do these things very rarely. He uses this approach based on cost benefit analyses, both formal and informal, that suggest that the advantage of the low risk strategies and the disadvantages of the high risk strategies are overstated...Is there a baseball equivalent? The best example I can come up with is how managers use their bullpen. I think having a bullpen full of pitchers who almost never go more than one inning isn't the optimal way to manage a bullpen, but any manager who tried a different approach would be risking his job. This doesn't seem quite as open and shut as the football examples, can you come up with any better examples?" * Joe: "I was listening to your podcast the other day on the Twins' farm system (Episode 331). This got me thinking: if we take the top prospect in all of baseball at each position and put them on one team, then pit them against MLB teams, how do you think they would fare?" * Eric: "If a team was very determined and the player was alright with it, would it be possible to keep a player's contract terms a secret so we wouldn't know how many years it was or how much it was for? I recall that being attempted with John Farrell's contract with the Jays but as a manager it's obviously a very different scenario." Notes * Sam, on scout questions: "I'd like everyone to ask a lot of scouting questions because I get to just sit back and listen to Ben talk about scouting school." * Sam likes the idea of getting rid of fielder designations and allowing everyone to freely move around (except for pitchers and catchers). * Because of luxury tax, arbitration, etc. a player's contract has to be known by the other teams and the MLBPA. Manager and GM salaries are much more likely to be private. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 335: Your Questions, Our Answers * Crash Bag, Vol. 78: Ted Williams Shift by Michael Baumann * Hang Up and Listen: The Death to Punting Edition Category:Email Episodes Category:Episodes